Monolithic foundation



Oct. 27, 1942. J. M. CROM 2,299,949

MONOLITHIG FOUNDATION Filed Feb. 25, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheetl 1 oa. 7, 1942. 11M, CROM 2,299,949

MQNOLITHIC FOUNDATION FiledV Feb. 25, 1941 j 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 27, 1942 MoNoLrrmC FOUNDATION John M. Crom, Jackson Heights, N. Y., a.' signor to The Preload Company, Bosto poration of Massachusetts n, Mass., cor- Application February 25, 1941, Serial N0. 380,477

8 Claims. (Cl. 'XZ-77) 'Ihis invention relates to monolithic foundations for building construction and more particularly to annular building constructions such as cylindrical tanks located near the ground or supported at substantial elevations. Therequirements of such constructions include the capacity to support very heavy loads and one object of my invention is the production of a novel foundation which will support such loads without shifting or breaking thereunder. v The invention particularly concerns inverted V-shaped cementitious foundations constructed on and embedded within the earth beneath its surface and so reinforced that the downwardly extending bifurcations which encompass a portion of the earth cannot expand or break under load. These foundations for cylindrical tanks and the like will be of annular configuration and the outer leg of the bifurcation will have incorporated therein annular reinforcing rods supporting the structure against outward expansion under load. In the preferred construction these rods are placed under a predetermined tension before bonding them to the foundation whereby holding the unit under predetermined compres'- sion and preventing any shifting or cracking under load.

y These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is an elevation of a tank construction and illustrating in section my novel and improved foundation for supporting the same,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and showing portions thereof broken away to illustrate the steps of construction,

Fig. i3 isicross sectional view of the foundation in process ef construction,

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing further steps in the construction,

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing completion of the construction and the mounting of a superstructure thereon, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a modified form of the invention.

In Fig. 1 I have illustrated a water tank I0 supported at a substantial elevation on a cylindrical column I2 in turn supported on my novel foundation Il, it being understood that the column l2 itself might be constructed as the tank or as any other form of superstructure desired.

The foundation I4 is of annular configuration@ and its cross sectional form is of inverted V-shape.

or Y-shape, comprising two portions or legs extending respectively inwardly-downwardly and outwardly-downwardly. Thefoundation and its construction are illustrated in detail in Figs. 245 of the drawings.

The foundation is wholly underground below frostline and in proceeding with its construction I excavate an annular ditch I6 of the necessary size, and shape the earth at the center of the ditch into an annular mound I8 of roof-like configuration providing two oppositely sloping surfaces, one surface 20 sloping inwardly-downwardly and the other surface 22 sloping outwardly-downwardly. These surfaces are substantially rolled and compacted to provide permanent forms for receiving the cement composition whichfis poured or shot in piace thereon, it being understood that any necessary or desired reinforcement can be provided in the usual manner. rEhe cement composition is preferably applied to the surfaces by compressed air cement guns, the inner Iportion 24 being built up to its full thickness and the outer portion 26 being initially constructed in somewhat less than its final thickness as illustrated in Fig. 3. The foundation is' also built upwardly at 28 to provide a strong Junction of the two portions 24 and 26, and spaced dowels 30 are provided in the portion 28, these dowels being suitably seated in the cement during the process of construction and extending downwardly into one of thev two portions of legs-24 and 26 and wholly enclosed there- In this annular form of the invention the foundation is placed and held under a preload compression by annular reinforcing rods 32 wholly embedded within the outer leg portion 26. These rods can be conveniently placed as follows.` The required number of rods, each embodying a turnbuckle 34, are laid on the outer portion 26 illustrated in Fig. 3, the rods being of different lengths whereby to space them upwardly ove1` the foundation as illustrated. A layer of cementitious composition is then shot onto the portion 26 and rods to a depth substantially to cover the rods as illustrated in Fig. 4. Before the cement has hardened, the rods are freed from bonding engagement with the cement, as by the tool illustrated. This tool comprises a handle 36 carrying bifurcations 38 adapted to support a loop 40 of fine wire. The wire loop is passed around the rod and is then moved along the rod in a manner cutting away any initial bonding of the concrete therewith. The resulting construction leaves the rods resting in annular grooves within the outwardly extending base portion 2i of the foundation.

When the last placed cement has hardened, the turnbuckles I4 are rotated to tighten the rods 32, whereby placing the foundation under a predetermined compression. A further layer of cementitious composition is then shot into place over the rods and portion 28 to completely enclose and bond the rods within and complete this portion of the foundation as illustrated in Fig. 5. The completed foundation with its upwardly extending dowels 30 is now ready to receive the superstructure thereon and, after filling in earthI 'illustrated in Fig. 5, I place a cylindrical form 42 at and extending upwardly from the inner face of the portion28 Aof the foundation, the form being braced outwardly as at I4. This form is adapted to receive against its outer face the cementitious composition which is shot thereonto to form the column l2, the dowels 30 being enclosed within the column at its junction with the portion 28 whereby supporting the column on and against shifting movement relative to the foundation.

The weight supporting function and advantages of my improved foundation are believed to be quite apparent. The diverging leg portions 2l and 26 encompass a substantial portion of earth i8 therebetween and shifting movement thereof within the earth is impossible. Furthermore, the area covered by the foundation and sustaining the weight load is considerable and, together with the annular configuration, provides a broad and uniform supporting base. The pre-stressed rods 32 also not only support the foundation against expansion but furthermore keep the same under such compression as relieves the inner leg portion 24 of weight stress and condition of tension which would occur if the foundation were permitted to expand under load. The cost of' construction is also relatively small and the resulting foundation is believed to be substantially superior and more economical than other foundations heretofore known.

While the annular form of foundation above described represents the preferred form of my invention, the invention is applicable to other forms and uses. For example, in Fig. 6 I have illustrated a Y-shaped foundation of straight configuration and embodying an upwardly extending portion 50 and two downwardly extending and diverging portions 52 and 56, together with dowels 56. The portions 52 and 54 are bowed inwardly to provide load sustaining arches as will be understood. This form of invention is constructed substantially in the manner above described in connection relative to Figs. 1-*5 except that the legs 52-54 are held from expansion by the employment of transverse rods 58. These rods are suitably coated or covered with cement or other composition preventing the contact therewith of moisture or the like which would cause deterioration. The coated rods are placed in the earth mound 60 prior to the placing of cement which forms the foundation, the ends of the rods being joined to bars 62 extending under a predetermined compression toward each other. In such case the rods can be extended through one of the bars and provided with tightening nuts whereby to tension the rods before covering the nuts with cement. The construction together with its formation and advantages are believed to be apparent without further description.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A monolithic foundation for building construction, comprising a horizontally curved and inverted v-shaped cementitious structure embedded in the earth and having one leg extending downwardly and outwardly of the curvature and another leg extending downwardly and inwardly thereof, and reinforcement including rods within and extending horizontally along'the outwardly extending leg, the rods being supported against movement outwardly of said curvature whereby to hold the structure against expansion outwardly when substantial weight is placed thereon.

2. A monolithic foundation for building construction, comprising a continuous and endless cementitious structure embedded in the earth and having one leg extending outwardly-downwardly of the structure and another leg extending inwardly-downwardly thereof, the inner surfaces of the legs resting on the earth, and reinforcing rods within and extending horizontally along the outwardly-downwardly extending leg and pre-stressed to hold the structure under compression inwardly and against expansion `outwardly.

3. A monolithic foundation for building construction, comprising an annular cementitious structure embedded in the earth and having an outer leg extending outwardly-downwardly of the structure and an inner leg extending inwardlydownwardly thereof, the inner surfaces of the legs resting on the earth, and annular reinforcing rods within and extending horizontally along the outer leg and supporting the structure against expansion.

4. A monolithic foundation for building construction, comprising an inverted V-shaped and annular cementitious structure embedded in the earth and having an outer leg extending outwardly-downwardly of the structure and an inner leg extending inwardly-downwardly thereof, the inner surfaces of the legs resting on the earth, and annular reinforcing rods within and extending horizontally along the outer leg and prestressed to hold the structure under compression inwardly and against expansion outwardly.

5. Building construction, comprising an inverted Y-shaped and annular cementitious structure with the inverted bifurcations thereof embedded in the earth and having an outer leg extending outwardly-downwardly of the structure and an inner leg extending inwardly-downwardly thereof, the inner surfaces of the legs resting on the earth, reinforcing rods within and extending annularly along the outer leg and supporting the structure against expansion, and a cylindrical building construction ,supported on the upwardly extending leg of the inverted Y formation and extending vertically upward therefrom.

6. A monolithic foundation for building construction, comprising an inverted Y-shaped cementitious structure embedded in the earth and having two leg portions thereof extending downwardly in diverging relationship and one portion extending upwardly therefrom, the inner surfaces of the leg portions resting on the earth reinforcement supporting one of the downwardly extending leg portions from movement away from the other downwardly extending leg portion.. and spaced dowels enclosed within and extending upwardly beyond the said upwardly extending portion. f

1 7. Building construction. comprising an inverted Y-shaped cementitious structure embedded in the earth and having two leg portions thereof extending downwardly in diverging relationship and one portion extending upwardly therefrom, the inner surfaces of the leg portions resting on theI earth reinforcement supporting one of the downwardlyextending leg portions from movement away from the other downwardly extending leg portion, spaced dowels enclosedy within and extending upwardly beyond the said upwardly extending portion and extending downwardly within one of the downwardly extending portions, and cooperating building construction supported on and extending upwardly from the,

upwardly extending portion of the inverted Y- I formation and enclosing the upwardly extending portions of the dowels.l

8. A method of forming a monolithic foundation for tanks and the like', comprising the steps of .forming the earth beneath the top surface thereof into an annulus of roof-like configuration in cross section and having inwardly and outwardly sloping surfaces extending around the annuls, placing a cementitious composition on and over said surfaces to a substantialy depth,

placing annularv reinforcing rods on the outer portion of the cementitious formation, placing cementitious composition onto thebuter portion of the"cementitious formation and over the rods, preventing the bonding of such rods to the outer portion of said formation, tightening the rods to place the monolith under compression, and placing further cementitious composition onto the' outer portion of the cementitious formation and stressed rods to bond them into a unit.

y JOHN M.I CROM. 

